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5/27/11

Giveaway Day: May Sponsors

It's giveaway day on Smile and Wave which means ONE HAPPY COMMENTER will win ALL OF THE GIVEAWAYS BELOW! A few of this month's sponsors are generously offering items ranging in value of $25 - $50 to a lucky Smile and Wave reader. Read through and see how you can enter to win.

"Hi, my name is Stacie and I run Gingiber, and online nursery decor shop. I love to create doodles that will appeal to both the kiddos and adults in a home! I am super excited to be giving away a $25 credit to my shop!

Hi!! Green Dandelion is a very new business set up by three sisters Lauren, Jess and Tatum to create and sell clothes, toys and accessories for children (sizes 2-12). With a love for thrifting, a majority of our pieces feature upcycled and vintages materials found on our treasure hunts.

For us the ultimate goal is to be a 100% ethical, fair trade, organic company catering for adults and children in all sizes. If you have any questions or want to work together to create a custom order, email us on info@greendandelion.com.au and together we can work something out.

Find us on our website Green Dandelion and from there you will find links to our online store, facebook and twitter.

Hi! My name is Stephanie. I'm a small-town girl who recently moved to Los Angeles with big dreams & a zest for life! I have a blog about food, fashion and city adventures at The-Loudmouth.com and an Etsy shop that showcases my photography! I am sure one of these prints would look great in your home :)

Hello! I'm Faith, designer and creator behind OrdinaryMommy. My line includes hair accessories, jewelry, and home decor pieces full of color and soft textures; intertwined in all of my designs is a love for fun, style, and also my unique perspective! My fondest wish is that my pieces make you smile. If you open that package and there's a smile on your face, that's what really matters to me.

TO ENTER TO WIN leave a comment below sharing something you love about the handmade community. Short and sweet or long and wordy! The comments will close on Monday and a winner will be announced soon after. Thank you to all the sponsors that joined in on this fun giveaway!

Also, I'm making the move over to a new blog soon. I'm MORE THAN A LITTLE excited about this space getting a fresh look! If you'd like to join Smile and Wave as a new summer sponsor check out this post for details.

I love that the handmade community is validating. You find there are so many other people who 'get it.' And, so much of the community is on the internet, you can be a part of it no matter where you are.

I love the handmade community to be able to directly support the artist/creator with my $s. I also love that I always get an 'original'. There is just so much creativity and ingenuity out there in the handmade community I am always in awe!

I love the hand-made community!! I spend hours daily looking a blogs and crafts. It is such a beautiful way to combine design and sustainability. As an architecture student, my goal in life is to always bring beautiful design to our communities... but I am a strong believer in doing so in a very earth-consious way. Handmade things have a unique and special energy to them which will light up your life and home. I love how these crafts bring friends and family together... always giving an excuse to spend hours in each others company, creating.

I love the creativity, constant inspiration, being part of a large community, sharing my skills and talents with like-minded people as well as people new to the "movement"! p.s. your sponsors are wonderful!

i love how the handmade community is well..handmade! it's nice to know that the stuff you get is fair trade and it is not something a person in china did not make it and get paid 50 cents for doing it! you get what you pay for and handmade makes me feel better about what i buy. there is something so beautiful about handmade! i just love it!!!!

My favorite thing about the handmade community is that people are doing something they are truly passionate about. They didn't get into it to make money. It was something that started out as a hobby and turned into a business. I believe this is what inspires so much awesome creativity in the community.

My favorite thing about the handmade community is how utterly willing to share everyone is. I have never had anyone NOT want to share their secrets. That is such a beautiful thing. We're not competing with one another. We're working together.

i love the creativity flowing around in the handmade community, it's contagious. I've run into nothing but friendly, helpful, positive people since I've started my blog/shop and it's been a wonderful experience.We might be online but we are a strong knit community! Go us!

I love how much more personal it feels to purchase and own things that were made by hand, and how lovely it is to give something handmade away. It's like going back to the origins of community - when all we had were our personal skill sets, what we could grow or make by hand, to barter or gift with. I think it reminds us how connected we are.

i love the creativity and camaraderie of the handmade community. it's a constant source of inspiration, fueling new ideas and immense satisfaction... and the feeling that we're all walking this simple-living way together. i love the excitement with which newly discovered do-it-yourself project how-to's are shared!

Buying homemade makes the item more special due to the time, detail, love and dedication to making their product superior to those you buy in the store. Just the uniquiness alone makes the item more precious to the buyer.

What an incredible giveaway! The beautiful thing for me about something handmade is the part of someones soul that goes into a piece. The handmade community is a place to share yourself.Thank you, Gabrielle

I love everything about the handmade community! It's so much friendlier to shop handmade, then going to the mall or a department store, PLUS the best thing is probably the quality of product. Love it!!

I like how personal gifts seem when I buy from the homemade community. It seems each piece is special and made with love. I really think the creative passion shows in the finished product. I also like to support anything made in America, because I believe our country is full of wonderfully talented artists and artisans.

I like the supportive nature & all of the personal interests that are supported. Buying cute handmade things to support or raise awareness about cancer, adoption, or etc. is just awesome!!Also, it's serendipitously cool to support crafting vices :)Of course, it's nice to get super creative things for less than high-end store prices :)

Oh my goodness! I just stumbled onto your page and I am absolutely gob-smacked (and a little bit jealous!) and the amazing creativity of you wonderful people. The "Take courage" picture almost made me cry... Beautiful~!

I love that when you buy handmade you're getting something JUST FOR YOU! That item has not been mass produced, but specially made just for you {okay, maybe not JUST for you, but you catch my drift}! I also tend to be pretty jealous of everyone with a special handmade trade because I pretty severely lack the creative gene!

i love how tightly knit the handmade community is. everyone, for the most part, seems to really support each other and care about one another's success. for instance, the recent UO -vs- handmade/small business issue. i think that really goes to show how great a community it is.

I am forever amazed at the articles that the creative and wonderful members of the handmade community come up, Not only to they dream up these ideas, but they actually put them into practice, I often have many many ideas of things to make, but they often dont blossom from just the idea into a reality. I sometimes go as far as buying what I need to complete the project but never start. I admire in each and evry one of these creative people is that they think and do!!!! This is the biggest thing i admire and love about each and evry one of you - you are Do-ers!!!!

I love that the handmade community is so accepting. It doesn't matter what are you are, what country you are in, what job you do... If you like making things, that's all you need. And that's so unlike the rest of the world, it's fantastic.

I love the handmade community because it's an important alternative to all the massproduced stuff!Like Betsy Greer of craftivism puts it: "The creation of something with your own two hands is one way of resisting a consumerist and materialist based culture that is built upon the backs of less fortunate individuals" Well said!

I love being inspired by the ideas I find through other creative people out there. I love the uniqueness and individuality of everything that is handmade. Handmade items hold a story about their maker - sometimes without the maker even knowing :)For me, the handmade community is always a place of discovery.

Apart from the warm fuzzy feeling I get when I see a beautiful handmade item. I feel the handmade community is genuinely changing lives and building confidence of burgeoning artsits. Handmade connects me to my past, and keeps these wonderful skills alive.

I love that the handmade community is so inspiring and encouraging. They genuinely want beginners to learn and succeed. And on a side note, I love that "handmade" isn't taboo anymore and that it is much more desirable than "store-bought" these days!

I love that for the most part, the handmade community is just that, a community. It doesn't matter what part of the world you live in, there is always someone to bounce ideas off and get inspiration from.

I love all of the creativity and inspiration that floats through the world of 'handmade'. Although at this stage of my life I'm simply a 'buyer' and not a 'seller', it still feels as if there is a lot of support systems set up for sellers of handmade. Things like craft fairs, online blog parties (and sponsorship) and even conferences. Very cool.

I love how the handmade community is so friendly and awesome!! We all have things in common and the majority of us in my city are stay home mommies!! We all love hanging out with each other. Weather it is a play date at the park or our monthly girls crafty night out. Being a part of something so creative with such amazing women and men is amazing!!!

I love the uniqueness of everything I find. I know when I purchase something handmade that it was made with love (not in some factory) and I know what I have is not something everyone else has at their home.

I love how I can be connected directly to other creative people and support their work without going through any corporations. There is so much talent and creativity and joy and I just love being plugged in to that!

Why do I love the handmade community? Because it offers unique products and because I know there are people behind each product putting their heart and soul into their work. Plus, I love that creative individuals are able to make money from their awesomeness.

I love how that in the handmade community everything is completely unique. You'll never find something from the handmade community at a commercial store, so you know that the quality and and originality are at 100%.

Oh i love all of these beauties :) Anyway , i love how the handmade community is so connected even across the world. I love how people support each other even if they have never met. It just makes it seems so warm and inviting!Rub&Flo.

I have recently started blogging and have discovered a whole new world of beautiful creative and extremely kind people - everybody loves what they do and it shows. I am loving this new world and so incredibly grateful for the friends I have met. Handmade communities just gives me zest of life. THANKS.A xx

sometimes i feel like etsy changed my life, and i'm so much more a consumer than creator of handmade goods. i am a 33 year old mama and have been living independently (as a renter and now homeowner) since i graduated high school 16 years ago. with each yearly move as a renter i would purge and eventually i really had nothing in the way of decoration, as nothing i owned spoke to me and asked me to please pack it up and keep it. photos weren't on the walls, i had a few pieces of art made by friends but that was it. and then, a couple of years ago i guess it's been now, i discovered etsy. pieces on there spoke to me! looking at the amazing work people do inspired me and i always feel good parting with a bit of my small budget when it's going to an artist. i've even started to try my hand at sewing and creating, in my few spare moments. i seek out much more handmade and vintage/thrifted goods in shops, too. buying handmade helps me keep it local (even when i use local as the whole community of my fellow north americans), and it fits with my values. when i want to make something, i usually try my local independent fabric shop, or local makers of beauty goods or foods. i find i rely on the handmade community for all of my gifts, as a source of inspiration and/or instruction when i want to try a project on my own, and as a way to pass some time on the internet just enjoying the aesthetics of it all. i am continually impressed and delighted by the wonderful work i see out there.

You seriously have amazing sponsors! What I love about the handmade community, is that we all seem like family! If I find out someone makes something, I'm like 'oh really? I make...' and it's like we're instant friends! :)

There's a certain feeling of love and pride you get when you make something for your home or your kids or as a gift. I love that there's a whole community of people who feel that it is still worthy of their time and energy to make things unique, beautiful and special for themselves, their homes, kids and for others.

I love how supportive the handmade community is... As a girl who loves to play with jewelry and dreams of selling it one day, I feel safe knowing there is a network of other crafty-preneur's out there that I connect with and ask for support, advice, etc... Yay handmade!

I love that the handmade community has a history-- in my (your) grandmother's depression-era embroidery (to make things "nice" even in hard times), in the warmest crocheted blanket, in doilies and paintings and carefully stitched wedding dresses. I love that I can capture 100 years gone by pulling out my mother's steel sewing machine, my grandmother's heavy scissor's, my great grandmother's sewing box. I love that in carefully teaching myself how to sew from patterns or how to freeform crochet I'm teaching myself the joys of my family, your family, 10,000 other across the world families and that so easily I can connect & get advice from children, mamas, and omas all together.

What I like most about the handmade community is the diversity. Of ideas, styles, personnalities etc. wrapped in a community wich allows convergence and links and even bonds to be born between all these various individualities.

I LOVE that when I buy something handmade I also buy a story. The story of the creator of something unique - and the story made by the creator and put into my new homemade treasure. A story I then ad my story to...I love that handmade items are born with a "heart" :-)

and I love how unique everything is in the handmade community - its incredible how beautiful it all is and how you can't find it at some huge store like Wallmart. Nice to know that someone has really put in a lot of effort for you :)

oh my goodness! so many lovely things!i am starting to become a bit obsessed with arian's work. i just ordered her "home" print and have been deciding on which other ones i want to hang up! plus, NOM's little owls are absolutely adorable.thank you for the great giveaway!

the thing i love most about the handmade community has to be the pride and love that goes into every item made. i love buying handmade because i know someone loved it dearly before i had the chance to and that love definitely translates to the item itself. also, it definitely makes for a happier home. :]